But Tuesday morning, the church announced it would take in people who needed shelter. By afternoon, several hundred people whose homes were swallowed by the floodwaters had taken refuge inside the sprawling building.

Among those happy to have a place to go was 38-year-old Jie Zhang.

Zhang was at the shelter with her husband and two children ― an 8-year-old daughter and a 5-month-old baby ― along with her husband's parents. The whole family was rescued early Tuesday after floodwaters began pouring into their home in Sugar Land, just south of Houston, which they purchased just last month.

Joseph Rushmore for HuffPost
Jie Zhang, 38, and her daughter Sheryl, 8, wait to be entered into the shelter at Lakewood Church in Houston.&nbsp;

Water started pouring into the home Monday night, Zhang said. "The whole neighborhood is flooded."

Zhang and her children retreated to the second floor, and her husband managed to flag down rescuers. She said they never imagined the water would rise as high as it did.